1. Pleass Global has grown into one of Fiji's leading manufacturing companies. Can you tell us about the company's journey and the vision that has driven its growth, both domestically and internationally?
Pleass Global has been operating for 30 years. We've just celebrated our 30th anniversary, and we started very small.
Initially, my husband and I were new to Fiji. We are Australian by birth, and we determined that there was a market in Fiji for clean, pure drinking water. So, we started out with refillable 15-litre bottles that fit on top of coolers or dispensers.
After some years, we determined that there was also a ready-to-drink market available in Fiji because, at that time, there was very little bottled water in the country. We started with a brand called AquaSafe® and made a range of ready-to-drink products under that brand over the years. One by one, they were launched, and AquaSafe® is now Fiji's leading water, holding the largest market share in the country.
After several more years, we decided we needed a brand for the international market, so we developed VaiWai®. VaiWai® is all about beauty, sustainability, the environment and premium pure drinking water.
Both waters are very unique in taste and come from aquifers deep under the ground, right here where we're sitting. We have a source here and bottle directly from the source.
Previously, we had factories based in Suva and were bringing the water from the source to Suva by tanker:then we built this factory right over the source. The aquifers are in the valley beside the factory, deep underground, and we bottle directly here.
Our water is very premium and very pure. The water coming from underground aquifers is absolutely drinkable, potable water. It is filtered by nature and is very clean. It wins awards every year at the International Taste Institute in Brussels for its taste and quality.
It's a very unusual water. It has a very smooth palate, low TDS, a good range of minerals, low sodium (which is very important), and a natural alkaline effect. The pH sits around 7.6 to 7.8, making it a very good drinking water.
Over time, we started working in international markets. It's been a slow process because we're not a massive marketing firm; we're a manufacturer, so we've taken our time. Today, the US, Asia and a little bit of the Middle East are our markets. We also supply the Pacific Islands, including Tonga, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
The company is growing year on year.
As you mentioned, we're listed on the South Pacific Stock Exchange. We think that's very important from a compliance and reputational perspective, as well as giving people in Fiji the opportunity to invest.
Our largest investor is FNPF, the Fiji National Provident Fund, which is a compulsory superannuation fund. Effectively, everyone who works in Fiji is a shareholder because that fund belongs to to Fiji’s workforce and is invested on their behalf.
We also have Fijian Holdings, private individuals, mum-and-dad shareholders and staff. So, we've got a good mix of shareholders and a very supportive shareholder group. We've been very blessed to have great support from our shareholders throughout the years.
Thirty years is a very long time, and it has taken a long time to establish the company, establish market share and establish the Fiji domestic market. We are now present in nearly every hotel and resort in the country. In retail, we're very, very strong, and our export market is growing year on year.
Ultimately, the company has grown a little faster than we expected. We built this building with the view that it would last about 12 to 15 years. We're at year 10 now and we've outgrown it.
So, we're building another factory, a vertical integration project, to expand our footprint and have more space for additional lines and storage.
The company has done very well. We have about 190 staff, with locations in the west of the country as well as in Suva, the capital. Namosi is our main facility, where all the manufacturing takes place.
2. The company is best known for producing AquaSafe bottled water and a range of premium beverages. What differentiates Pleass Global in an increasingly competitive global market?
I think there are several things. In the global sense, people are looking for products that are very healthy, very pure, don't contain chemicals forever and come from pristine sources, and we can answer all those needs.
There is a consumer that basically belongs to us. It is typically people in a certain age group and with a certain income who lead a healthy, active lifestyle and wish to invest in good food and drinks to maintain their health.
The fact that we have good pH, good minerals, purity, and award-winning taste has made this very appealing to many people in markets around the world.
I also think people are becoming increasingly focused on labels and what is in products. Our labels tell them the whole story.
A lot of bottled water doesn't tell you anything about its contents. Sophisticated consumers have become quite accustomed to reading labels and understanding what they're purchasing, and we attract those consumers as well.
The other thing is that Fiji has a reputation as a beautiful resort island country, so people have a romantic attachment to products from Fiji as well.
We've designed the bottle to be a little reminiscent of Fiji's colours. The name is also significant. "Vai" means water in Polynesian, while "Wai" means water in the Fijian language.
So, it's a Pacific water.
3. Manufacturing plays an important role in Fiji's economic diversification. How does Pleass Global contribute to local employment, value-added production and the development of Fiji's manufacturing sector?
Clearly, our demonstrated growth over many years has increased our workforce. We are about to step into an even larger period of workforce growth with the new factory opening, so there will be a lot of employment created.
We are very much part of the manufacturing leadership in the country in terms of dialogue with government, with the drivers of the economy and industry groups.. It's very important to us that we support Fiji's strategy, and that has been our position since we started the business.
It's also very important to note that Fiji has had a sugarcane focus for many, many years and a tourism focus for many years. But diversification is something Fiji desperately needs because it protects the country from shocks to some extent and builds a more sustainable economy.
Manufacturing is very important for Fiji because diversification builds a stronger and more sustainable economic foundation.
The more we manufacture here, the better the lifestyle for people here because manufacturing locally is obviously more affordable for consumers than importing everything.
It's very important that we have a range of products manufactured in the country so that the local market doesn't have to import every single product that we consume.
There is large-scale manufacturing of biscuits, flour, rice, and all sorts of products in the country. However, one of the challenges we face is the ever-increasing cost of manufacturing in Fiji, and that relates to being an island country.
Everything we import has to arrive by ship, so it is expensive. But we're still more affordable than imported products, so it does help the economy.
We are very much in favour of a diversified economy because it's the way that Fiji can continue to grow.
Tourism is obviously a very significant part of the country's economy, but we need other sectors to develop as well.
4. Export markets are central to your business. Which international markets present the greatest opportunities for growth, particularly in the US, and how are you expanding your global footprint?
We are already in the US in a number of formats. We have VaiWai® in the US in a number of locations. We also do some private-label manufacturing for major retailers in the US, and that's a very big part of our US business.
Private-label manufacturing refers to producing a retailer's own brand, a practice that is becoming increasingly popular across various markets.
We do the same in China. We sell VaiWai®, but we also have private-label manufacturing for retailers. That has been a central theme of our strategy for the last five years.
The reason is that many retailers worldwide are seeking to develop a stable of their own brands rather than relying on national or multinational brands. We've taken advantage of that philosophy and established our presence in their brands across the US and China.
We also participate in trade events around the world, including large trade shows in Europe, major trade shows in America, and events in various countries, such as Australia, to display our products and connect with buyers.
We also do a lot of one-on-one visits, which has always been a cornerstone of my own philosophy. I think establishing a very personal relationship with customers is very important, and visiting people in their home country is important as well.
That way, you understand their challenges, what they want to do with your product and how you can help them.
5. Consumers worldwide are increasingly focused on quality, health and sustainability. How is Pleass Global innovating its products and adapting to evolving consumer preferences?
Health is a very big part of the premium water segment. People who buy premium water are typically health-conscious or wish to be healthy. They are often exercise-driven or athletic and want a hydrating water that is also good for their health.
We've always maintained that it's very important to talk about the benefits of premium water.
The premium water market is growing worldwide. It's quite a specific segment and has moved away from the general bottled water market. Interestingly, in terms of price and even in-store presentation, people are segmenting it completely separately now.
In terms of sustainability, we offer a number of options.
We hold the view that PET is not the evil that many people perceive it to be. It's actually the most practical and least carbon-intensive product for bottling water.
The biggest problem with plastic is how it is handled after use. In many countries there are very good recycling programmes, and PET is the perfect plastic for recycling. It is fully recyclable and can be turned into bottles again.
There has been an international movement arguing that plastic is harmful and shouldn't be purchased. That's very inaccurate and very emotive, but it is a perception generated by various agencies around the world.
In response, we talk to people very practically about PET's value to consumers and customers.
If people wish to choose what they believe is sustainable packaging, we also have VaiWai® in glass. Glass is a lovely product, but it can be very carbon-intensive, difficult to recycle and transport, and it has inherent food-safety risks associated with chipping and potential breakage.
We sell a lot of glass in sparkling and still water, but I'm seeing a change in thinking as people come to the realisation that PET is fully recyclable.
We are now making bottles from recycled PET, and companies like ours are leading the way in many respects.
We collect bottles in Fiji, chip them into small granules and send them offshore for recycling. That has been an important part of our philosophy for a long time, making sure that we're closing the gap and demonstrating the value of recycling.
We don't yet have full recycling capacity in the country, which is a shame, though I think we will soon.
We collect bottles, chip them and send them offshore for recycling, and then get the PET back. It's a perfect solution for us. It's expensive, but it's a very good solution.
6. Can you tell us more about the Return and Earn initiative and your broader approach to packaging waste?
The beverage industry in Fiji has eight bottlers. Some are water companies, while others produce beverages, juices and soft drinks.
We've been concerned for a long time about bottle collection and recycling because Fiji doesn't have a good system in place.
We've been waiting for the government to determine a container-deposit regulation and system, which is obviously very complex. When there is a change of government, the focus can shift from one issue to another.
So, we decided to set up our own system.
We've established a not-for-profit company called Return and Earn that involves these eight beverage companies.
What we're doing is getting consumers to bring bottles back to us. We pay them,chip or bale, the containers and send them offshore for full recycling into PET.
It's been phenomenally successful. We started operations this year and have already collected 7.8 million beverage containers, with only one-tenth of the collection centres we planned to have open.
We're still in the pilot phase, yet we've collected this massive amount of plastic. We're very pleased and very proud of that.
7. Environmental stewardship has become a key priority for manufacturers. What initiatives is Pleass Global undertaking to improve sustainability, reduce its environmental footprint and promote responsible use of Fiji's natural resources?
We've always held the environment as a very big value for our company; in fact, one of the most important values.
We acquired this land, which is primarily lowland tropical rainforest. It's very beautiful and we have 440 acres. We use only a fraction of it for our factory and operations.
We decided to seek organic certification for the property 15 years ago, and we've maintained it ever since. So, we're fully organically certified, which protects the water source.
The aquifers are deep underground, but filtration occurs through the ground. Water falls from the sky and slowly moves through many layers of rock and sand before reaching the aquifer.
If you have unhygienic things on the land, they can go with it. That's why we can genuinely claim to have extremely pure water: there is nothing on the land except pristine rainforest.
We developed Kila Eco Park as a tourism and social-responsibility project. It's a high-ropes and zipline activity park that gives the local community an opportunity to use the property while also creating jobs.
These days, local guests come, as do guests from resorts, but our biggest numbers come from cruise ships because the park is sold onboard as an organic walk.
Visitors are interested in the gardens, vanilla, pineapple, turmeric and other things we grow. None of it is commercial. We use the produce for our staff and their households, and everything is organically certified.
We've also recently put in beehives.
The farm is primarily for tourists visiting Fiji, particularly cruise-ship visitors, who enjoy walking around to see what we grow and visiting the Eco Park.
We use no fertilisers, no chemicals, no oil and no fuel on the site whatsoever. It's quite hard to run a business with those strict requirements, but it's very important and central to what we do.
We're the only water bottler I know of in the world with that qualification.
Everything we do has a sustainability focus. We use recycled board for our water boxes, our packaging is recycled, and we've reduced plastic. For example, where a lot of water comes in plastic wrap, we don't use it.
We've also created a 10-litre VaiWai ® box made from recycled cardboard, with a bladder inside and a tap. It's similar to the wine casks people are familiar with, but it's a 10-litre cask of water.
We're constantly looking for ways to reduce our consumption, waste, and environmental impact.
8. How are you ensuring the long-term protection of the aquifers and the biodiversity of the land?
We have 440 acres of pristine rainforest, and we protect that very vigorously.
We also have a patch of palms that are nearly extinct in Fiji. Conservation International came to us and asked us to look after them because land has been cleared across Fiji for sugarcane farming, other agriculture and housing.
We had a planting day with international conservation groups and local NGOs, and we've established a palm area that we are custodians of.
We don't allow animals on the site to harm the birds, and we don't allow logging or cutting of trees.
We manage people coming onto the property very carefully because people can cause a lot of harm. Visitors to the park are restricted to certain areas to ensure no harm is done to the environment and that rubbish isn't left behind.
On a larger scale, we are part of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute, which does a lot of work around water stewardship and the environment.
We comply with its model code, which requires intensive water stewardship.
We have a hydrogeologist who monitors our aquifers. Probes sit in the aquifer over periods of weeks and months, after which we remove them and download the data.
We're looking at whether we're stressing the aquifer, whether we're pulling too much water and whether we should move to another aquifer.
Water stewardship is an ongoing daily programme to make sure the aquifers are preserved for the future.
We receive around six meters of rain in this valley every year, so the aquifers are continually refreshed.
We are also part of the Australasian Bottled Water Institute's ESR 30 environmental programme. It sets targets specifically for the bottling industry to reduce waste, energy use, carbon footprint and environmental harm, with targets to reach by 2030.
We upload data to the programme, which is assessed and monitored by an audit firm in Australia as well as the Australasian Bottled Water Institute.
That's important because customers will often ask what we're doing about the environment. Rather than simply talking about it, we can show them the data and demonstrate the progress we've made in reducing consumption, waste and electricity use.
9. Technology and innovation are reshaping manufacturing. How is Pleass Global investing in automation, digital technologies and operational excellence to support future growth?
We regularly attend engineering and equipment trade shows overseas and visit suppliers to see the latest equipment that saves energy, produces bottles more efficiently, uses recycled materials, and improves production.
Eighteen months ago, we installed four robots. They inspect bottles to make sure they are filled correctly, weigh the right amount, have the label in the right location and are ultra-clear, with no particles or dust.
Those robots are far more effective than a human being looking at the product. It's both a food-safety initiative and an automation project.
We also have automatic case packers, so boxes are made by machines and bottles are put into them by machines.
We're bringing new lines into the new factory that will manufacture different types of products. It will make plastic bottles, aluminium cans, and fill glass as well as PET.
We're also investing in plastics and plastic technology. One of the things we're putting into the new plant is a machine that makes the forms from which bottles are blown.
Currently, we bring those forms from Malaysia and China, but we'll be making our own here.
That's a $20 million project that will reduce our reliance on imports and give us greater control over our production.
10. What are your ambitions for Pleass Global over the next five years, and how do you see the company contributing to Fiji's future?
I think we will continue to grow year on year in the double digits. That's definitely part of our budget and plan.
We will expand our footprint in the US. I know that for sure because the steps are already in place. We will also expand our footprint in Asia.
The company will continue to grow, and we have many development projects underway here to support that growth.
In terms of Fiji's manufacturing sector, I think we'll become one of the top manufacturers in terms of output, revenue and growth but importantly in sustainability and ESG
Our shareholders and we are very focused on growing the company to a size and scale that supports a community while also establishing a significant presence in export markets.
By growing our business over the next five years, we expect to employ an additional 500 to 600 people. That's a big contribution in a small island country.
We are also exploring diversification opportunities. On the other side of the road, we are looking to develop a gated residential community with 10-acre lifestyle properties, high-end homes overlooking a creek, and the services people would expect from that type of community.
Importantly, this development would not impact the forest areas of the property.
I do think Fiji has the ability to expand its international trade footprint. It hasn't been easy in the last couple of years, with tariffs increasing in the US. The Fiji government is trying to have those tariffs reduced or removed, but that's a long negotiation process.
Being smart about business and responsible from a sustainability and environmental perspective, while also being loyal to the country, is important.
We have to play our part in supporting Fiji's economy as much as we can.
11. Beyond your manufacturing activities, what role does Pleass Global play in supporting communities in Fiji?
One of the things we do that is very important to us is Rotary Pacific Water.
About 16 years ago, our other CEO was a founder of an organisation called Rotary Pacific Water. The foundation provides clean drinking water to communities across Fiji.
Many communities in Fiji do not have access to clean drinking water. They drink from creeks or tributaries, and often that water is contaminated because of cattle or poor sanitation.
The foundation sends teams of plumbers, carpenters and engineers into communities and builds water systems. It may be a well, a borehole, a sand filter or a series of rainwater tanks.
That's been going for 16 years, and we're the platinum donor.
If we're going to have a water company renowned in Fiji, we have to contribute to improving water access in Fiji and make sure people have clean drinking water.
Another initiative we're currently running is a pilot programme in schools called Food for Thought.
Some children, for various reasons, don't receive adequate food. Children's brains are highly dependent on nourishment, so brain development and the ability to learn and succeed in school and life are strongly connected to nutrition.
We're providing food for children in schools who have been assessed as malnourished or who come to school without breakfast or lunch.
We provide two dietitian-designed meals per day, while the Department of Health measures parameters including blood pressure, haemoglobin levels, weight and dental health.
The results are very clear.
Children who don't get fed well can't learn and don't do well at school.
We're growing many of the vegetables we provide because we have the farm, and a group of mothers at the school cooks the food for the children twice a day.
It's a small-scale pilot at the moment, but it's important because it's a scalable model.
12. Finally, what message would you like to share with Los Angeles Times readers about Fiji as a destination for business and investment, and about Fiji's global ambition to showcase Fijian products on the world stage?
Fiji is really the hub of the Pacific in terms of commerce, shipping and travel, and it's a solid economy.
Many of the island economies in the Pacific are quite fragile. Fiji's economy has its ups and downs, but it survives even in terrible circumstances, such as massive cyclones or pandemics that shut the country down.
Fiji has a sustainable economy, and the pillars of business are here.
The support from Investment Fiji is here. We have a stock exchange, so if people want to try before they buy, they can invest in companies in Fiji and see how they perform.
I think it's a country where investment can be very successful with the right levers. Those levers include having the right people managing the business, having the right attitude towards the country and understanding the culture, which is very important.
Fiji has quite a unique culture. It has a mixed culture, with Indo-Fijians and Indigenous Fijians, alongside many other communities. Understanding the culture and having the patience to work within it is very important.
You can be very successful in Fiji if you get all of those things right.
From a lifestyle perspective, Fiji also offers a very nice lifestyle for expatriates and investors. It has a lovely, mild climate; we don't have winters, and if people enjoy the quieter side of life, it's a really lovely place to live.
.png)
